Keatley to travel to Wales; Schmidt still to decide on Sexton
Joe Schmidt has said that Ian Keatley is on standby in case Jonathan Sexton cannot play in the Wales clash on Saturday.
The Ireland coach also admitted that they have still "got to make the decision" on whether Sexton is able to take part in the crucial Six Nations Test.
Sexton tweaked his hamstring in Ireland's win over England on March 1 and had to be replaced by Ian Madigan in the second half. He also sat out Racing Metro's match last Saturday, much to the relief of Schmidt.
The Ireland coach said Sexton had trained and kicked well in the past couple of days but is cautious about him being fit enough for the game.
He said: "He's had a very good run into the game, and he's had no problems. I guess you'd worry about all the players returning from injury getting a knock.
"That is something you can't calculate for, you can anticipate to a degree and try to make sure you've got the cover prepared and ready to go."
Schmidt said the Munster fly half, Keatley, would travel to Wales as a precaution.
He said: "We've got to make the decision straight after this (press conference) based on how Johnny feels. I think the fact that it's a free week for the provinces, we might take him (Keatley) anyway.
"I think he did a great job in Italy for us, he's a guy we want to keep reasonably close to the squad, because we need to have depth, particularly in those pivotal positions at 9 and 10.
"It's good for him to see the other guys operating and mapping the team around the pitch."
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